Washing machine



Nov. 10, 1953 H. D. BOWMAN WASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1951 INVENTOR.

// mnfifiowmaa Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE a 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a washing machine for washing clothes, and important objects and advantages of the invention are to provide a washing machine of the character described, which operates in a novel manner to effectively and cleanly wash clothes in a minimum period of time, and which embodies novel means operable for removing the moisture from the washed clothes without necessitating the manual handling of the clothes or the removal of the latter from the machine.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a clothes washing machine of the typedescribed, which may be conveniently operated byanyone of ordinary skill, which is simple in its construction and arrangement, which is durable and emcient in its use, compact, attractive in appearance, positive in its action, and comparatively economical in its manufacture, operation and maintenance.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein specifically described in the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood that the latter is merely a practical embodiment of invention, and that changes in the form, proportions, and details of construction may be resorted to that come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a top plan view of a clothes washing machine constructed in accordance with the invention, with the lid removed and with parts broken away.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 22, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the sectional operating shaft.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary of the operating shaft and illustrating the engagement of the latter with the bearing tube.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the cover plate and showing the attachment of the latter with the clothes receptacle.

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the closure plate and showing the connection of the latter with the carrier plate.

Referring in detail to the drawing the improved washing machine comprising a tub I provided with a lid 2, and including a bottom 3 provided with a drain valve 4. The tub is preferably cylindrical in contour, and is secured on a suitable enclosed supporting structure 5, which latter is mounted on casters 6.

An elongated, vertically disposed bearing tube 1 is fixedly secured in the diametric center of the tub bottom 3. The greater part of the bearing tube extends into the tub I, and a lesser portion thereof projects below the tub bottom.

A sectional operating shaft 8 is shiftably mounted for vertical and rotary movement in the bearing tube I, and comprises an upper section 9 and a lower section III. The lower end of the upper shaft section carries a fixed reduced,

squared stem I I, which is engaged and vertically shiftable in a squared passage I2 formed in the upper end portion of the lower shaft section III. A spiral spring I3 is mounted on the stem I I between the lower end of the upper shaft section and the upper end of the lower shaft, section. The normal action of the spring tends to hold said shaft sections in the maximum spaced ,relation to each other, as clearly shown in Figure 4.

The drive mechanism is mounted in the supporting structure 5, and comprises a suitably journaled worm I4, which is driven by an electric motor I5 and meshes with a worm gear I6. The worm gear is fixed to one end of a suitably journaled drive shaft I1, and a crank arm I8 is fixed on the other end of said drive shaft. A control clutch I9 is mounted in thedrive shaft,

and is provided with an operating lever 20. The

operating of the control clutch allows the suspension of the operation of the crank arm while the motor I5 is still running.

The lower end of the operating shaft 8, which extends through the lower end of the bearing tube 1, carries a conventional type of ball race bearing 2|. The operating shaft is supported in the bearing tube by a supporting bar 22, which has one end pivotally connected, .as at 23, to the ball race hearing. The other end of the supporting bar has a pivotal connection 24 with the lower end of a compensating link 25. The upper end of the compensating link has a pivotal connection 26 with a fixed bearing 21 which .is'secured to the supporting structure 5. A connecting rod 28 has its upper end suitably journaled on the crank arm I8, and has its lower end pivotally connected, as at 2 9, with the supporting bar 22 intermediate of the ends of the latter. Through the operation of this construction, it will be obvious that when the crank arm is rotated vertical reciprocating movement will be imparted to the operating shaft in the bearing ube.

A stud pin 30 is fixed in the operating shaft 8 and projects laterally through a slot 3|, which is formed in the lower projecting end portion of the bearing tube 1. The slot extends at a spiraling angle from the vertical, whereby when the operating shaft is vertically reciprocated in the bearing tube by the operation of the drive mechanism, reciprocal rotary movement of approximately one-third of a full turn will be simultaneously imparted to said operating shaft in the bearing tube.

A cylindrical clothes receptacle 32, including a bottom 33, is removably mounted in the tub I. The clothes receptacle is provided with a plurality of short legs 34 and is supported on the tub bottom 3. The legs project outwardly at an angle from the vertical whereby the clothes receptacle is held in adjacent spaced relation to the side wall and bottom of the tub I, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. The clothes receptacle is constructed from perforated or foraminous material, as indicated at 35, to allow the free passage of the washing water therethrough during clothes washing operations in the manner to be described. The bottom 33 is formed with a centrally disposed opening 38 for the passage of the bearing tube when the clothes receptacle is placed in the tub.

A circular carrier plate 31, constructed of perforated or foraminous material and being of a diameter approximating the interior diameter of the clothes receptacle 32 is suspended in the latter by means of an integrally formed hollow hub 38. The hub is disposed at the center of the carrier plate and extends vertically upward from the latter. The hub surrounds the upper end portion of the bearing tube '1, and has its upper end detachably secured to the projecting, tapered and squared end portion 39 of the operating shaft, by means of a securing shunt 40 engaged on the threaded end 4| of said operating shaft. By this arrangement, the reciprocal vertical and rotary movements of the operating shaft will be imparted to the carrier plate 31 during the operation of the machine.

A cover plate 42, constructed of foraminous material, is mounted in the clothes receptacle 32, and is provided with a central opening 43 for the passage of the hub 38. The cover plate is provided with a plurality of latches 44 engageable in respective perforations 35 in the side wall of the clothes receptacle, whereby the cover plate may be detachably secured to the proper adjusted position within the clothes receptacle to best effect the clothes washing and drying operations in the manner to be described.

A closure plate 45 is shiftably connected for slight vertical movement to and beneath the carrier plate 31 by means of a flanged neck 46, which is carried by the closure plate and surrounds the bearing tube 1 and extends into the lower end of the hub 38. A collar 41, threadedly engaged in the lower end of the hub, retains the connection of the flanged neck 46 with the hub 38. Such connection allows the closure plate to drop automatically by gravity, to spaced relation with respect to the carrier plate 31 during the upward movements of the latter during the washing operation, and will allow said closure plate to shift upwardly to press closely against the underside of the carrier plate during the downward movements of the carrier plate, to prevent water from passing through the foraminous carrier plate during the downward movements of the latter.

In practice, the operation of the improved washing machine is as follows: The washing water is placed in the tub I, and due to the foraminous construction of the clothes receptacle 32, the water will freely enter the latter. The clothes to be washed are placed in the clothes receptacle upon the carrier plate 31. The operation of the drive mechanism will alternately elevate and lower the carrier plate, together with the clothes on the latter, through the washing water, while at the same time the carrier plate will be oscillated to part turns, due to the engagement of the stud pin 30, carried by the operating shaft 8, in the angularly disposed slot II in the bearing tube 1. During the upward movements of the carrier plate, the closure plate 45 will be spaced from the latter and allow the passage of water through said carrier plate. During the downward movement of the carrier plate, the closure plate will shift against the underside of the carrier plate and thereby prevent the passage of the water through the latter to thereby create a partial vacuum forcing the retained water in the clothes receptacle, above the carrier plate, through the clothes in said clothes receptacle.

The described washin operation is continued as long as required. Such operation is for a comparatively short period of time due to the various and positive actions imparted to the clothes during the washing operation.

The cover plate 42 may or may not be used during the clothes washing operation. If used, the cover plate is secured in the proper adjusted position in the clothes receptacle 32, above the clothes in the latter, by means of the latches 44. Each time the carrier plate 31 is shifting to the upward position, the clothes on the latter will be pressed forcibly against the cover plate, thereby forcing water through and from the clothes to aid in the washing operation.

When using the machine to remove the water from the clothes after the washing operation. all of the water is first removed from the tub I through the drain valve 4. The cover plate 42 is then secured in the adjusted position upon the clothes in the clothes receptacle 32. The machine is then operated to press the clothes against said closure plate to thereby remove all water that may have been absorbed by the clothes. Due to the sectional construction and to the operation of the operating shaft 8 and to the spring [3 embodied in the latter, the pressure of the clothes against the closure plate, during the water removing operation, will not be abrupt and fixed, but will be consistently cushioned by the action of the spring to effectively perform the water removal operation.

The present invention provides a most efficient machine of its kind, which may be economically constructed, and conveniently and successfully employed for the purposes and in the manner herein set forth.

What I claim is:

1. A clothes washing machine comprising in combination, a cylindrical tub for containing the washing liquid, a removable lid for said tub, a clothes receptacle for containing the clothes removably mounted in said tub and being spaced from the side wall and the bottom of said tub, said receptacle being cylindrical and constructed of foraminous material for the passage of the washing liquid therethrough, a vertically disposed tubular bearing element secured at the center of the bottom of said tub and projecting upwardly into said tub and into said clothes receptacle, an operating shaft mounted in said bearing element, a circular carrier plate for supporting the clothes mounted in said clothes receptacle, said carrier plate being constructed of foraminous material and being detachably secured with the upper end of said operating shaft to shift with the latter, driving means to actuate said operating shaft to simultaneously impart vertically reciprocating and rotary oscillating movements to said carrier plate in said clothes receptacle, a cover plate constructed of foraminous material adjustably mounted in said clothes receptacle to compress the clothes during the upward movements of said carrier plate in said clothes receptacle, and latching means carried by said cover plate for securing the latter in the adjusted position in said clothes receptacle.

2. A clothes washing machine comprising in combination, a cylindrical tub for containing the washing liquid, a removable lid for said tub, a cylindrical clothes receptacle for containing the clothes removably mounted in said tub and being spaced from the side wall and the bottom of said tub, said clothes receptacle being constructed of foraminous material to allow the passage of the washing liquid therethrough, a vertically disposed tubular bearing element secured at the center of the bottom of said tub and projecting upwardly into said tub and into said clothes receptacle, an operating shaft mounted in said bearing element, a circular carrier plate for supporting the clothes mounted in said clothes receptacle, said carrier plate being constructed of foraminous material and being detachably secured with the upper end of said operating shaft to shift with the latter, driving means to actuate said operating shaft to simultaneously impart vertically reciprocating and rotary oscillating movements to said carrier plate in said clothes receptacle, a cover plate constructed of foraminous material adjustably mounted in said clothes receptacle to compress the clothes during the upward movements of said carrier plate in said clothes receptacle, latching means carried by said cover plate for securing the latter in the adjusted position in said clothes receptacle, and a closure plate shiftably connected at the bottom side of said carrier plate, said closure plate shiftable by gravity action to spaced relation with respect to said carrier plate to allow the passage of the washing liquid through said carrier plate during the upward movements of the latter in said clothes receptacle, said closure plate automatically shiftable to position said closure plate against the bottom side of said carrier plate to prevent the passage of the washing liquid through said carrier plate during the downward movements of the latter in the clothes receptacle during the clothes washing operation.

3. A clothes washing machine comprising in combination, a tub for containing the washing liquid, a removable lid for said tub, a clothes receptacle for containing the clothes removably mounted in said tub and being spaced from the side wall and the bottom of said tub, said receptacle constructed of foraminous material for the passage of the washing liquid therethrough, a vertically disposed tubular bearing element secured at the center of the bottom of the tub and projecting upwardly into said tub and into said clothes receptacle, an operating shaft mounted in said bearing element, a carrier plate for supporting the clothes mounted in said clothes receptacle, said carrier plate being constructed of foraminous material and being detachably secured with the upper end of said operating shaft to shift with the latter, driving means to actuate said operating shaft to impart vertically reciproeating movement to said carrier plate in said clothes receptacle, a cover plate constructed of foraminous material adjustably mounted in said clothes receptacle to compress the clothes during the upward movements of said carrier plate in said clothes receptacle, and latching means carried by said cover plate for securing the latter in the adjusted position in said clothes receptacle.

HYMAN D. BOWMAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 542,181 Wood et al. July 2, 1895 1,179,339 Sessions Apr. 11, 1916 1,456,052 Craver May 22, 1923 1,458,235 Montalto June 12, 1923 1,477,780 Staples Dec. 18,1923 1,881,851 Mousette Oct. 11, 1932 2,019,076 Geldhof Oct. 29, 1935 2,208,830 Bassett July 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 111,857 Australia Nov. 1, 1940 

